No doubt DPRK wants us to believe they have a nuclear weapon. But, aside from seismology, is there any evidence? My guess is that they know how to detonate TNT.
So we will wait around as the threat posed by these weapons and their leadership becomes too much to stand?
Kim Jong-un's generation will also suffer malnutrition and the fearsomeness of isolation. Popping off atomic firecrackers underground might inspire the already brainwashed population but it also enrages China, Pyongyang's only link to civilization. Ruling over a population of the always hungry is tantamount to managing a chicken-coop without any grain. Why bother? China might start dropping tootsy rolls over the countryside laced with Ketamine and allow the population to endure hunger Tim Leary style.
About 10 years ago PBS had broadcast footage of life inside N. Korea. I vividly remember a family eating dinner when the lights suddenly went out. As the lights came back on, an official's voice began broadcasting via a government speaker mounted on their living room wall. (This was literally a page right out of Orwell's 1984.) The family then began shouting and denouncing the United States because apparently... "The U.S. caused the blackout."
To say that this was disturbing would be an understatement. I don't think we in the west realize how many generations of N. Koreans have been brainwashed by their government and how little they know about the real world beyond their borders.
I cannot help but think that something really bad is going come out of their paranoid borders. It seems it's just a matter of time before they impulsively launch into south Korea or Japan.
I've never been one for preemptive strikes, (and no doubt the invasion of Iraq was a huge mistake) but if N. Korea keeps upping the ante with nuclear saber rattling... perhaps it's time the world community start considering aggressive actions.
To say that this was disturbing would be an understatement. I don't think we in the west realize how many generations of N. Koreans have been brainwashed by their government and how little they know about the real world beyond their borders.
I cannot help but think that something really bad is going come out of their paranoid borders. It seems it's just a matter of time before they impulsively launch into south Korea or Japan.
I've never been one for preemptive strikes, (and no doubt the invasion of Iraq was a huge mistake) but if N. Korea keeps upping the ante with nuclear saber rattling... perhaps it's time the world community start considering aggressive actions.
The country of North Korea teeters on the brink starvation and they worship nuclear weapons? There is so much of this story that is blank that I, for one, have no idea what to believe. Of course, the US worships it's military and the number of hungry children here grows every year so what really is the difference between our two countries?
"Not everyone can feast off pride — tens of thousands of North Koreans have defected over the decades — but enough of the population is buoyed by this singular sense of national pride and a Korean sense of conformity to keep the regime afloat."
That, and one of the the most viciously repressive regimes in human history.
That, and one of the the most viciously repressive regimes in human history.
I find it curious that only a single person thus far has commented on this revealing article. I think it may be that we simply don’t know what to make of the North Koreans and their peculiar country and hence think about them as little as possible.
I served in South Korea as an Army officer during the 1980’s and for a time was attached as liaison to a Republic of Korea Army infantry regiment. I was deeply impressed by what I saw and experienced during my tour of duty. These are a formidable people with a long history of being knocked about. We would do well to take them very seriously indeed.
North Korea and its pudgy young leader may seem like a joke to many in the West; its people like brainwashed automatons. Automatons they may appear but like the Israelis, they will not hesitate to use their nuclear arsenal in response to what they perceive as an existential threat.
Engaging with North Korea is extremely difficult as we have seen but the horrific alternative should at all times be kept in mind.
I served in South Korea as an Army officer during the 1980’s and for a time was attached as liaison to a Republic of Korea Army infantry regiment. I was deeply impressed by what I saw and experienced during my tour of duty. These are a formidable people with a long history of being knocked about. We would do well to take them very seriously indeed.
North Korea and its pudgy young leader may seem like a joke to many in the West; its people like brainwashed automatons. Automatons they may appear but like the Israelis, they will not hesitate to use their nuclear arsenal in response to what they perceive as an existential threat.
Engaging with North Korea is extremely difficult as we have seen but the horrific alternative should at all times be kept in mind.
The United States should forget about North Korea and its obsession with nuclear weapons, and withdraw all our troops from South Korea. Once we have left the region, North Korea will begin to forget about us, too. They have chosen to be a nation of losers. So be it. North Korea is not our business. It is still living in their version of the 1950s. Let China deal with a neighboring erratic, nuclear-armed nation. After all, North Korea is China's Frankenstein Monster, not ours.
China is right that the US is for a large part to blame. The betrayal and murder of Gaddafi plays a huge role in Kim's calculations on whether dialogue and compromise with the West is possible.
As for the North Korean economy, let's not forget that until about 1970 North Korea was richer than the South.
As for the North Korean economy, let's not forget that until about 1970 North Korea was richer than the South.
The myth of the Kim dynasty endures through fear of the outside world, mostly the US. The Kim's still can not get over their miscalculation to invade the South in 1950. Now we have a Korean version of Wahhabis
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Sad as it is, why is North Korean's patriotism sillier than anyone elses, including our own?
“Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.” - Arthur Schopenhauer
“Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.” - Arthur Schopenhauer
Lance Greeff wrote: Let's hope sanity prevails
Fighting on that peninsula for hundreds of years for hegemony; I question if the present can solve that protracted past. The present regime will never, ever give away the one thing it has to be taken seriously: would you? And it will not negotiate seriously either when it knows we want those nukes gone, and w them gone they'd integrate w the South and the regime would vanish; so why would the leaders even bother to talk to self-destroy? It promotes these weapons as a way to frighten its masses into subjugation.
Indeed, it will change only when the military understands there is no future for but a tiny % of the nation's people and a selfless and brave person steps forward and leads a revolt against the tyrant that is in charge.
Indeed, it will change only when the military understands there is no future for but a tiny % of the nation's people and a selfless and brave person steps forward and leads a revolt against the tyrant that is in charge.
A helpful attempt to understand North Koreans on their own terms. The author however does not mention what North Koreans have not forgotten: that in the Korean War, every city of any size was thoroughly demolished by UN airpower. Dams were destroyed causing massive loss of life through flooding. MacArthur and other generals militated for the use of large numbers of nuclear weapons to turn the country into a wasteland. These events within living memory loom large in the minds of the Koreans.
Am I correct in observing that Jean Lee does not mention the Korean War? In a piece that is supposed to enlighten Americans about what North Koreans think, this would seem to be a serious oversight. For Americans perhaps the war is ancient history, but is this the same for North Koreans? Do North Koreans remember the war? Are they taught about the level of destruction visited on their country? How many of their cities were wiped out? How many Koreans were killed during the war? Did the United States have plans to use nuclear weapons against North Korea? Was there a peace treaty between the United States and North Korea?
I'm not sure of the answers to these questions or their implications, but it is obvious they are relevant to how North Koreans think about their place in the world. Saying that pride is a "characteristically Korean" trait may or may not be true, but it is unhelpful.
I'm not sure of the answers to these questions or their implications, but it is obvious they are relevant to how North Koreans think about their place in the world. Saying that pride is a "characteristically Korean" trait may or may not be true, but it is unhelpful.
NK is the weakest in the area not counting the U.S. With frequent U.S. military drills over there, the NK may find that better and better nuclear weapons and rockets are the only and best defense. Even they can build a carrier, it will not deter the U.S. from treating them like another Iraq.
If we cannot beat them, deal with them. Start the 6-party negotiation again.
If we cannot beat them, deal with them. Start the 6-party negotiation again.
After realizing how Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein and Mubarak ended up their days, confronting the intense proselytism from abroad, cannot deny that chubby Kim is somehow right in his seeking for nuclear arms.
Clearly, the anachronism of the cold war mindset that lives on the region is not due only to him; indeed, he cleverly just takes advantage of this scenario to justify his presence in power.
Clearly, the anachronism of the cold war mindset that lives on the region is not due only to him; indeed, he cleverly just takes advantage of this scenario to justify his presence in power.
What if everyone decided to give North Korea to China?
Great to get the North Korean perspective. The question I always have is: do most average North Koreans really believe the propaganda and is their enthusiasm genuine, or do they act this way out of fear?
As a fellow Minnesotan, I recall the '87 world series win for the Twins, and the sheer civic joy and pride we felt. It's a nice way for Ms. Lee to convey how the North Koreans feel about their country's nuclear achievements.
As a fellow Minnesotan, I recall the '87 world series win for the Twins, and the sheer civic joy and pride we felt. It's a nice way for Ms. Lee to convey how the North Koreans feel about their country's nuclear achievements.
Spend a few minutes looking at photos of Kim Jong-Un, usually surrounded by grinning pie-hatted military men and sobbing women (so great is their joy at seeing Supreme Leader in person), and you see that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a ghastly sham.
As reported by the Times (''Pyongyang’s Hunger Games'', Mar. 7, 2014), the United Nation’s 2014 report on North Korea notes that Kim is believed to have squandered nearly $646 million on “luxury goods” in 2012, such things as cosmetics, handbags, leather products, watches, electronics, cars and alcohol for himself and his circle of sycophantic enablers. That’s about half of what the DPRK spent on its ballistic missile programs that year.
A year later, the UN’s World Food Program was putting the knock on donor nations to pony up $150 million for North Koreans, reporting that in 84 percent of that nation’s households had “borderline” or “poor” levels of food consumption.
The UK Independent reports that Japanese chef Kenji Fukumoto, who worked for Kim’s father for 13 years, revealed the son’s insatiable appetite for $300 bottles of Cristal champagne, claiming the rotund 33-year old often drinks two at a sitting.
Kim might play well in some North Korean minds, but at bottom he is a spoiled, insular thug, playing his inherited role, following the old Juche script without an original idea in his head. The only thing keeping him alive is China’s outdated perception of the DPRK as a buffer to aggression.
As reported by the Times (''Pyongyang’s Hunger Games'', Mar. 7, 2014), the United Nation’s 2014 report on North Korea notes that Kim is believed to have squandered nearly $646 million on “luxury goods” in 2012, such things as cosmetics, handbags, leather products, watches, electronics, cars and alcohol for himself and his circle of sycophantic enablers. That’s about half of what the DPRK spent on its ballistic missile programs that year.
A year later, the UN’s World Food Program was putting the knock on donor nations to pony up $150 million for North Koreans, reporting that in 84 percent of that nation’s households had “borderline” or “poor” levels of food consumption.
The UK Independent reports that Japanese chef Kenji Fukumoto, who worked for Kim’s father for 13 years, revealed the son’s insatiable appetite for $300 bottles of Cristal champagne, claiming the rotund 33-year old often drinks two at a sitting.
Kim might play well in some North Korean minds, but at bottom he is a spoiled, insular thug, playing his inherited role, following the old Juche script without an original idea in his head. The only thing keeping him alive is China’s outdated perception of the DPRK as a buffer to aggression.
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Perhaps the NKs haven't heard that "pride goeth before a fall".
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As a moral safeguard discouraging inventiveness and espressed individuality in a conformist society, I am sure the NKs know a variant of that saying which was so dear to the Puritans. The NKs know well that he pride to see something different or to have their foreign shirt not blemished by the Dear Leader's mug shot would be their downfall. But national pride is different. Countries that value and celebrate self-glorification and fetishize their "colors" like Russia, the U.S.A., or Turkey do not ever seem too close to their fall. And in the EU you get a bailout whenever your pride has been too big for a rational management of state finances. So no Katharsis either.
If what is written here is truth, and I have no means to doubt it, think how sad it is for people to take pride in such devastating and destructive weapons. Having so little the accept this as their salvation, recognition in the world. So Ronald Cohen, they may one day fall but where their pride will take the world is of greater concern.